Environmentalist group that disrupted U.S. Open has long history of stunts

Extinction Rebellion, the environmentalist group that disrupted the U.S. Open Tennis Championships, has a history of staging multiple protests around the world such as shutting down city centers using civil disobedience and organizing "climate protests" in the streets. 

Unlike most protests that involve carrying signs or marching with banners, the history of Extinction Rebellion's exploits seems to center not just on making its position known, but creating as much chaos and disruption as possible to draw attention to themselves. 

The group has been described by Time Magazine as "the most radical of a wave of climate activist groups sweeping the world in recent years." Extinction Rebellion originated in the U.K. but has chapters in 75 different countries.

As recently as Friday, the group brought attention to themselves by spray painting a superyacht owned by billionaire Walmart heiress Nancy Walton Laurie in Barcelona, and unfurling a banner reading: “Billionaires should not exist,” CNN reported.

For example, last year, the group carried out a protest demanding the end of fossil fuels by coordinating blockades of critical city thoroughfares, shutting down public access to key bridges in London, including Waterloo, Blackfriars and Westminster. 

In 2019 the group also forced several oil companies to obtain civil injunctions in the UK to stop them from launching synchronized actions targeting three key British fuel distribution terminals.

U.K. Energy Minister Greg Hands said: “While we value the right to peaceful protest, it is crucial that these do not cause disruption to people’s everyday lives. That’s why I’m pleased to see oil companies taking action to secure injunctions at their sites, working with local police forces to arrest those who break the law and ensure deliveries of fuel can continue as normal.”

Closing down fuel distribution centers affects millions of British households, because fuel shortages are a seasonal concern in the U.K., even more so since the closing of the NordStream1 pipeline in the wake of the Ukraine War. The Daily Mail reports experts expressing "uncertainty over whether the UK will be able to import the power it needs via undersea cables from Europe." 

The group told The Independent in 2019 that one of their biggest victories was forcing the British government to declare “an environment and climate emergency," making the UK the first country to do so.

That same year, the group used a fire truck to spray paint fake blood covering the UK Finance Ministry, and livestreamed the vandalism attack on Facebook. 

Other attention-grabbing stunts inconvenienced tens of thousands of people, such as when a pair of group members "super glued" themselves to a commuter train in Canary Wharf, one of London's busiest train stations. Extrapolated data from London's Department for Transport show that more than 46,000 commuters may have been affected.

The New West End company, which represents 600 retailers and restaurants in London, told CNN that "retailers lost £12 million ($15 million)" in those two days of protests.

CNN assembled a collection of news photographs showing the group's other antics, which blocked sidewalks, entrances to major buildings and a "Hong Kong-style occupation" of the London City Airport. 

On Thursday, the semifinal round of the U.S. Open tennis tournament was delayed for almost an hour due to a protest conducted by four environmental activists, with one gluing his bare feet to the concrete floor at the Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Two of the protesters were charged with criminal trespass, according to the New York Police Department. 

Fifty-year-old Sayak Mukhopadhyay was charged with criminal trespass and disorderly conduct, and 35-year-old Gregory Schwedock was just charged with criminal trespass, an NYPD spokesperson told NBC News Friday morning.

Another protester who goes by the single name "Ian," told the Associated Press in an interview that U.S. Open has sponsorship deals with corporations that contribute to global warming with their policies. 

“We are not trying to harm the athletes in any way. We have nothing against the sport,” he told the news service. “But we are really trying to draw attention to an issue here that there will be no tennis left for anybody in the world to enjoy.”

Three of the protesters were escorted out of the stadium by police officers and security guards, but it took longer to remove the protester who glued his feet to the ground.

U.S. tennis player Coco Gauff, ranked sixth in the world, was leading 1-0 in the second set when the game was interrupted by the activists. She went on to defeat Czech tennis player Karolina Muchova 6-4, 7-5.

“I always speak about preaching about what you feel and what you believe in," Gauff said in response to the protesters interrupting her match. "It was done in a peaceful way, so I can’t get too mad at it. Obviously I don’t want it to happen when I’m winning up 6-4, 1-0, and I wanted the momentum to keep going. But hey, if that’s what they felt they needed to do to get their voices heard, I can’t really get upset at it.”